Yedlin: A new chapter in consultations with Indigenous communities – Calgary Herald
August 22, 2017
There were two important decisions handed down by the Supreme Court of Canada last month, each dealing with issues of consultation with Indigenous Peoples in the context of projects where the National Energy Board is the sole arbiter.
According to experts participating in a panel discussion hosted by the University of Calgary’s School of Public Policy on Monday, both should be seen as inflection points in the complex journey towards project proponents being able to proceed rather than face stonewalling opposition.
The importance of each case — one pertaining to the Hamlet of Clyde River and the other with regard to the Chippewas of the Thames First Nation — is being seen by regulators, the legal community and the communities themselves as ground-breaking.
In the Clyde River case, the Supreme Court ruled that the Norwegian company in question had failed to adequately consult the hamlet in the context of seeking approval for conducting offshore seismic surveying.
